Our new community greenhouse has been erected August 2022 in the Dartmouth Community Garden on the riverfront at the junction with Mayor’s Avenue on the site of the old depot. It has cost more than £100,000 including site preparation, structure and fittings.
DGP Chairman, Stevie Rogers, said: ‘We are delighted to have the new community greenhouse and are working to get it up and running. Many thanks to all our generous donors and sponsors, and to our volunteers for their hard work in getting the necessary funding.
The Victorian style ‘Grand Manor’ structure designed and built by Hartley Botanic Ltd is a spacious rectangle with a front porch, made from toughened glass and olive coloured powder coated aluminium on a brick plinth, decorated with finials along the roofline. Stevie said: ‘We had to change the plan from a bespoke pyramid design, to reduce the size and cost, as raising funds became more difficult due to covid pressures.
It has taken DGP volunteers 7 years to raise the funds after the old community greenhouse was demolished in 2015. Notable milestones have been two tranches of £20,000 each from the Postcode Local Trust in 2017 and 2019. This is a grant giving charity funded entirely by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery. The rest has come from generous donors, smaller grant funding and volunteer fundraising efforts.
Stevie explained: ‘The community greenhouse will be used to raise plants for the many floral displays we create around Dartmouth, We plan to hold events there for people to gain horticultural knowledge and skills, and for it to become a Centre of Horticultural Excellence.’